Summary

Personally inspecting the damage, Colonel Tigh learns that the fleet's entire crop supply was destroyed in the attack. More importantly, the fleet's supply of seed has been exhausted and must be somehow replenished, according to Agro Specialist Carmichael.

The fleet had recently passed by the planet Sectar, home to a small agricultural settlement of humans, in the Zeta Quadrant. Commander Adama plans to trade an old energizer (one without Colonial markings) to the settlement, in exchange for new seed.

The only energizer available for trade is owned by SiressBelloby, an old acquaintance of Adama, who refuses to relinquish its ownership unless the Commander meets with her personally. Belloby hosts a bouquet-wielding Adama, who agrees to romantically court the siress, in exchange for the energizer.

Before the Colonial's arrival, Dipper sees a full moon and warns the residents of Serenity of an impending attack by the Borays, herd-like humanoid creatures which pillage the town on horseback, killing constableFarnes. Bogan, the settlement's leader, has trouble recruiting a replacement constable.

Starbuck and Boomer ride into town, posing as farmers looking to trade their energizer for seed. Bogan, seeking a new constable, offers the warriors employment instead, but they decline.

Returning to their shuttle landing site, Starbuck and Boomer are ambushed by Dipper and accomplice Duggy. Their vehicle (and the energizer) are hijacked; freeing themselves, the warriors realize they've been robbed by Bogan's men. Starbuck returns to town to confront the thieves, while Boomer returns to the shuttle to inform Adama and company of the hijacking.

Bogan denies involvement in the heist, but offers to sell the seed to Starbuck. Not having enough money, Starbuck joins a pyramid game to increase his funds.

Producing a three-level pyramid, Starbuck wins the hand, drawing suspicion from Dipper and Duggy. Starbuck expresses his suspicions as to the source of their funds, implying their role in the theft of the energizer.

The Boray is the most rare of all the Mattel Galactica action figures.

Still short on funds, Starbuck is tricked into "winning" the constable's star during a hand of pyramid, becoming the de facto town constable. Entering the saloon, Adama demands to see the local law enforcement official, only to discover that it is none other than Starbuck.

Bogan insists that Starbuck must face up to his duties as constable, regardless of how he came into possession of the constable's star. Facing the attacking Boray, Siress Belloby is captured and dragged off by the marauding pig-like creatures.

The townspeople point out the general direction of the Boray camp. Apollo brings Muffit, who tracks Belloby by her scent to the Boray cave.

Finding the Boray encampment, the Colonials hold off the creatures with a few warning laser blasts. Adama negotiates privately with Nogow, the Boray leader, but to no avail.

Starbuck hatches a plan, trading his constable's star to Nogow in exchange for Siress Belloby.

Back in town, Adama buys the required seed from Bogan, while the townspeople reluctantly meet their new constable, the Boray leader Nogow.

Unimpressed with Adama's negotiating skills at winning her release, Belloby dumps Adama, much to the commander's relief.

Notes

Filmed for the most part in the backlot of Universal Studios, the town site looks remarkably similar to the towns we visited in "The Lost Warrior" and "The Long Patrol". Also, just as on Equellus, the town is only seen at night.

The footage of the Agro Ships as well as the interior of the Agro Dome was re-used footage from the film Silent Running

The episode (The Magnificent Warriors) bears a resemblance to The Magnificent Seven - a movie where 7 gunslingers are hired to protect a town from an invading bandit - as well as the film The Seven Samurai. A further connection can be made in that there are seven Galaticans who come to the town (Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer, Adama, Siress Belloby, Boxey, and Muffit).

This is Richard Hatch's least favorite episode of Battlestar Galactica.

The Mattel action figure of a Boray is the rarest and most valuable of all the Mattel Galactica action figures.

A Boray appears in the background of the Buck Rogers episode Unchained Woman.

Analysis

"The Magnificent Warriors" is the second of the two Western episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Where "The Lost Warrior" was a blatant rip off of Shane, "Magnificent Warriors" is a blatant rip off of The Magnificent Seven right down to the title.

This episode is a light hearted adventure which plays counter to the more somber tone that underlies the series. It has of course been argued that such radical variations in tone prevented the series from truly exploring the dramatic underpinnings of its premise, but this was a television program that was conceived of as light family fare in any case, and this episode certainly fits that bill.

This episode contains a few comedic sequences, chief of which is Adama's visit to Siress Belloby's chambers to try and court her, and in so doing obtain access to her old power generator or "energizer." Embarrassed and nervous, Adama's ploy is only partially successful as the wily Siress maneuvers him into letting her come down to the planet, and to a longer term relationship. Belloby is ably portrayed by Brett Somers, who at the time was famous as one of the wittier regulars on the successful game show The Match Game. It seems the role of the Siress was perhaps created with Brett in mind.

Starbuck's attempt at gambling in the casino provides another comedic scene, when Adama goes looking for the lawman of the town and is introduced to the young Lieutenant who was unknowingly tricked into winning the constable's star and assuming the post.

The idea that Adama could not simply order Belloby to give up the energizer is, of course, ludicrous. It is even more ludicrous to think that the Colonials could not simply erase or burn off the Colonial markings on one of their own energizers. It seems to be a contrived way to bring Belloby into the story.

The concern over the Cylons finding the energizers is hard to understand. The odds of it ever happening would seem remote, and even if it did, enough time would probably have passed that the Colonials would be long gone.

Another alien race is introduced in this episode, the Borays, but they get no lines and are largely an undefined culture. Nogow is a bit of a pig, which makes sense given his appearance. This is not an episode that is heavy on subtlety.

The title of this episode is not particularly imaginative, and does not differentiate it from other episodes. It could be easy to confuse the episodes "The Lost Warrior", "The Magnificent Warriors", "The Long Patrol" and "The Young Lords". Some fans refer to this one as the "Siress Belloby episode."

Other than for dramatic purposes, why do Adama, Belloby and Boxey join the shuttle mission?

Belloby has a romantic agenda that seems to involve getting some alone-time with Adama on the planet. As the owner of the energizer, she may have insisted that they accompany the mission.

Apollo indicates that this mission isn't very dangerous, which is his excuse for including Boxey - and he turns out to be right; Boxey's involvement is almost non-existent. Apollo was probably as glad as the viewers are to not have to suffer through one more scene of Boxey pleading with Apollo and Apollo having to make excuses for Boxey's exclusion.

Questions

Why does the sudden appearance of the full moon startle Dipper? Of course, the Boray attack under a full moon, but doesn't the moon appear in regular cycles that can be predicted by the colonists? They are aware of space travel, but somehow can't accurately predict the cycles of their own moon?

Why is so much of this episode filmed at night? Was this due to Battlestar Galactica's crazy shooting schedule, perhaps? Or were these sets only available in the evening? In any case, this must have cost a lot of money. Hiring crews to work at night in California requires the payment of additional wages.